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'Cats, Rebs Play Similar Style, But Kentucky Just Had Too Many Athletes In 82-64 Win In Second Round Of Southeastern Conference Tournament
By TCP Columnist Mike Estep
BATON ROUGE, La. When you look at Ole Miss and Kentucky as they take the hardwood, you see a pair similar teams, but in different stages of development. Kentucky of course, a contender for this season's Final Four and the NCAA's all-time leader in victories, has been in the business of winning games and championships forever it seems. Ole Miss, on the other hand, under the direction of Ed Murphy, is just getting its feat wet.
At least that's how the Ole Miss coach sees it.
"We've gained a lot of ground in our program the last two years," Murphy said following Kentucky's 82-64 win over his Rebels, the third this season and the second in a six-day period. "Rod Barnes is the only player that played one minute for the previous coach (Lee Hunt). So we've changed out every player in our program and avoided a disastrous season. I was afraid that we would lose all of the momentum that we built up last year.
"But it is obvious that even though we've made up some ground and made those changes, we have not caught up to Kentucky. The difference simply is athletic: They run a motion offense and we run one. I though we played pretty tough when we got after them. But we can't shoot the ball with 'em because we don't have the athletes they have. The difference in the shooting percentage? When they get an offensive rebound, they stick it back in. When we get an offensive rebound, we're not strong enough to score with it."
It's almost as simple as that. Kentucky just had two many horses for the undermanned Rebels to handle in the second round of the SEC tournament.
'Cats Have Too Much Firepower For Rebels...
With Winston Bennett and Rex Chapman leading the way, scoring 15 and 10 points respectively in the first half, the Wildcats, who shot 69.6 percent from the field for the first 20 minutes, raced out to a 42-29 halftime edge. Barnes, the Rebels' all-conference performer, scored the first two buckets after intermission to bring Ole Miss to within nine at 42-33 with 18:12 left to be played. But Ken-lucky went on a 12-point run. holding Ole Miss scoreless for the next six minutes, to take a 54-33 advantage at the 12:08 mark. For all intents and purposes, the game was over.
It was the defense that forced the long Ole Miss dry spelland held Barnes, who errupted for 31 points in UK's 78-71 victory over Ole Miss in Oxford in the SEC regular-season finale, to 18, 13 of those coming after the game had been decidedthat UK coach Eddie Sutton was most proud of.
"I thought defensively we played pretty well," Sutton said. "There in the second half, when we broke the ballgame and got up 20 points, I thought it was the defense more than anything else."
UK's Sticky Defense Was Too Much For Rebs
But even though the Wildcats shot 55 percent from the floor for the contest and placed four players in double figuresChapman and Bennett had 19, Rob Lock 13 and LeRon Ellis 11Sutton said he still sees room for improvement.
"Any time you shoot the basketball as well as we did tonight, shoot over 50 percent, then that covers up a lot of other mistakes," he said. "One of the mistakes we've been having a lot of trouble with lately, and we did again tonight, is board play. We're giving up way too many offensive rebounds (17). especially to a team that is considerable shorter than we are. We turned the ball over too many times tonight (17) and our free throw shooting (six of 15 for 56 percent) is not what it has been."
UK-Ole Miss Notes & Quotes
Ole Miss coach Ed Murphy had this to say about Kentucky's chances of winning the tournament title: "I think that the key with them is shooting the ball. When they hit those jumpshots, I don't think there's anybody in the league that can beat 'em, they're the best team. They play great defense, they're beautifully coached and they're great athletes. And they have excellent depth. By changing the lineup around a couple of times this year, what he's done is developed two players that come off the bench that are as good as the starters, just about." . . .On of those reserves is LeRon Ellis. And the Friday night contest was a coming-out party of sorts for the 6-11 freshman. Ellis lost his starting position to fellow freshman Eric Manuel late in the season and had been having trouble producing away from the friendly confines of Rupp Arena. But against the Rebels, Ellis hit five of 10 attempts from the field and added a free throw for 11 points, and also pulled down six rebounds in 20 minutes of action. . .Ed Davender took just six shots for the game, hitting three of them for six points, but handed out a game-high seven assists. . .Eddie Sutton was able to play 12 players during the game, giving his starters needed rest for a run at the tourney title. In addition to Ellis, Cedric Jenkins, Richard Madison, Mike Scott, Sean Sutton, Derrick Miller and Reggie Hanson came off the bench for the 'Cats. "One thing, we were happy to play everyone," Sutton said. "We have to get our squad right back to the hotel, get 'em something to eat, get 'em back to bed and be right back here in less than 24 hours. I though it was important for us to be able to win the game and not play our starters for 35 or 40 minutes. So we were able to rest 'em a little bit."
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UK-Ole Miss Play-By-Play
Time Kentucky Store Ole Miss
19:00 Davender lr> ft. 2-0 i lumpei Iayup
17:42 j lock FT, 11 4-2
17:25 1 in k (Junk 6-2 |
id: ih Bennett Iayup 6-2 !
15:15 Bunnell ft. 10-2 ;
15:0.! 10-4 lumpei 12 ft.
14:1(1 10-6, Paul 7 ft, hook
1 ): 1)! 10-8 ' lumper FT. Fl
1 \:>7 1 Mis Iayup 12-8
1 ):11 12-10i Murphy 1 1. FT
12:11 (Hi- I" II 14 10
11:37 fills 6 ft. 16-10 J
11:11 Chapman 20 ft. 1940
10 21 19-12' Ward 11 > 11
b:57 Lock FT, FT 21-12
JB: )4 20-14. Barnes 14 ft.
7:57 Bunnell FT. FTA 21-14
7:25 : 21-16 Barnes 10 ft.
6:54 , Bennett iayup 23-16>
6:22 Chapman 8 ft. '25-16
6:03 25-18 lumper Iayup
5:43 Chapman 20 II. 28-18
5:20 28-21' Prater 20 II
5:01 Bennett 18 II. 10-21
4:34 Chapman dunk 32-21
4:08 Bennell Iayup 34-21'
4:03 14-24 Pr.ilei 22 ft.
3:08 34-26 lumper 10 ft.
2:07 Bennetl FT, FT 36-26
;l;43 Ellis (, ft. (8-26
1:28 38-27 Barnes FTA. FT
1:00 Bennetl FT, FT '40-27 40-29 Prater 12 ft
:01 Lock Iayup 42-29-
HALF 42-29
19:08 42-31 Barnes 16 ft.
.18:50 42-33. B.I UK's 14 ft
18:12 Chapman 16 ft. 44-33
17:21 Davender 12 It. 46-ti
16:59: Chapman Iayup .48-33
15:11 ' Ellis ft ft. 50-33'
13:14 ' Bennell 16 ft. 52-33
12:20 Bennetl 17 ft. 54-33
12:08' '54-35 Barnes FT, FT
11:19 54-37 Barnes 12 ft.
11:25 Chapman 18 It. 56-37
10:58 Jenkins Iayup 58-37
58-40 |uni|K'r 22 ft.
10:14 .58-42 lumper 12 It.
'9:07 ' lenkins Iayup '60-42
8:33 Lock Iayup 62-42
l8:0B Chapman FTA, FT 63-42
7:57 i64-45 Barnes 20 II.
7:33 Chapman FT, FT [66-45
7:00 Lock follow dunk 67-45
6:52 167-47 Prater FT, FT
6:40 . Ellis FTA, FT i 68-47
6:16 168-49 Murphy Iayup
5:46 I Hanson FT. FT 170-49
5:35 70-51 jumper 18 ft.
5:24 j Lock dunk 72-51
5:06 : 172-53 Murphy 8 ft. hook
4:33 i Davender Iayup 174-53
!;30 [74-55 Murphy tip in
(.03 I lanson 6 ft. ! 76-55
2:44 Sutton Iayup 78-55
2:02 ; Scott tip in [80-55
l:48 [80-5/ lumper 6 ft.
1:23 [80-59 Barnes Iayup
1:04 1 lanson 1H ft. 82-5r -
:38 J82-&; Allen 21 It.
:10 182-6': i lones, 12 ft.
FINAL 82-64
Cafs' Pause chart